Our Firsts: Our First Date
by Magma-Dragoon
Summary: It's very nice when the protagonists confess their love and all ends well, but what's next? Sakura and Syaoran wouldn't be able to just start going out. This story is about them overcoming their shyness and understanding what a relationship really means.
1. Asking Her Out

Haldo!

**A/N:** _This story is part of the "Our Firsts" series. It comprises only one-shots, all based on all the canon from the anime or the manga, whichever I find more convenient. They all suggest how Sakura and Syaoran would actually handle real life situations that every couple may go through, all of that in Syaoran's point of view. They are NOT part of the same story and/or time line. Just because one thing happened at one story it doesn't mean it will have happened at the other. The only thing binding them in the same series is the theme. If you enjoy this one you might want to read the rest of the series. It has no definitive end, so sooner or latter something new might pop up._

**Disclaimer: You are not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You are not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f-ck-ng khakis. CLAMP is most certainly not Card Captor Sakura.**

_This fanfic is based on the canon of the anime and is set immediately after the second movie. It may contain spoilers from the movie so be aware._

_Just one last thing. You should know most of this, but I like to repeat it in every single fic I write just to make sure. Not every anime fan knows these things:_

_In Japan names and surnames are inverted, so instead of Sakura Kinomoto you have Kinomoto Sakura._

**Hoe -** _Sakura's catch phrase... uh, word... whatever! She usually uses it when she's surprised or when she doesn't understands something... you'll get the hang of it as you read._

**chan, san, kun, sama -** _When placed after the name they're a very common formality, used when addressing someone; -kun is generally for boys, -chan is generally for girls, -san is generally for older people or strangers and -sama is used to refer to someone who's superior to you, it's like a sign of extreme respect and/or devotion. (They are all a bit more complex than that, but this gives you a general idea.)_

_And this..._

"Character talking"

º_Character Thinking_º

(Me talking)

_And the story..._

**Card Captor Sakura:** _Our First Date _

**Part 1:**_ Asking Her Out_

º_How could I have ever lived without this before?_º

That's what went through my mind as I held Sakura that day. All of that trouble we went through to capture The Void seemed meaningless then. It seamed as if the only reason we had gone through all that was so I could hear her say that.

"I love you!" She had shouted as she jumped in my arms. It was like a dream. Especially considering the whole circumstances it all had happened.

Up to that moment it had all been awkward. I did my best to respect her feelings and not press on the subject, but we both knew that we were desperate to talk about it, and when it finally happened it was wonderful.

That's what I was trying to tell myself as I held the phone in my hands. Just a few numbers and I would reach her house and talk to her for the first time since we separated that day. After all, everything had happened so quickly that day, we barely had any time to talk or, and I blushed every time I thought of that back then, kiss each other. Especially because of her brother who, after we went back to meet everybody, didn't leave our side for one second. It was as if he knew what had happened between us.

"Why am I so nervous again?" I asked myself, noticing that my fingers were actually trembling a bit. "I thought I was over this!" Indeed, I had been. Since I had come back to Japan, Sakura was the one to get nervous around me like I did before. I thought it was cute seeing her like that, and it reminded me of how hard it had been confessing for me. But all of a sudden, when she confessed, I wasn't in control anymore. I had to do more than just waiting for her answer. I was back to blushing and stuttering all over again.

ºI didn't get nervous yesterday. Was it because of all the adrenaline? Yeah, that was probably it.º I'd think, still staring blankly at the phone.

"That does it!" I heard Mei Ling shout from the door that lead to the corridor. My heart skipped a beat, only to go back to beating twice as fast as it had been as I thought about Sakura.

"Ah!" Was the first sound I managed to make. "Mei Ling?! What do you think you're doing?" I said, angry at her. I was really angry, but I was so embarrassed I couldn't really keep my composure.

Mei Ling entered the room and put her hands in her hips, glaring at me. "It's the fourth time I walk by this room and see you staring at this cellphone!" She said, pointing to the little pink cellphone in my hand. "If you're going to call her just do it already!"

I frowned at her. "This is none of your business."

She groaned, loosing her patience as much as I had lost mine. "You know, she's probably back at her house, sitting on her bed, staring at her phone and gathering the courage to dial those numbers, just like you!"

"Who said I was... Hey!" In one swift movement, she took the phone from my hand. "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing you a favor." She said as she started dialing Sakura's number on the phone. "You two are way too stupid. Me and Daidouji-san have to do everything for you. You both know you love each other already, what's there to be shy about?" She said, knowing I would be extra embarrassed at that.

"Give that back!" I reached for the phone, but she managed to pull it out of my reach, nearly knocking me down on the process. "Mei Ling, I'm telling you..." I could hear the phone's beeping. Sakura's cellphone was ringing already.

"Come on, Syaoran." Mei Ling said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't expect me to believe you don't want to talk to her."

I blushed, realizing how stupid I must have looked. After all, Sakura and I had already confessed for each other. We were just one talk away from being officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

I shook my head hard to regain my composure. "Of course I want to talk to her!" I said. "I just don't want you butting in."

She sighed. "You know that if I don't butt in, you two will never even..."

"H-hello?" Sakura's shy voice could barely be heard from the phone since I didn't have it against my ear, but it was enough to interrupt our conversation.

I felt my whole body acting up. My hear racing, my mind going haywire, my hands shaking; just like it used to be in the old days.

Mei Ling was very amused at my embarrassment.

"Hello?" Sakura asked again after hearing no response.

"It's for you." Mei Ling said in a mocking voice.

"Thanks." I said with an exaggerated sarcasm, taking the phone from her hands and sitting on the bed again. I stared at her trying to look intimidating, but my trembling hand that took the phone kinda gave me away.

"Hey, it's Syaoran." I said on the speaker while signaling for Mei Ling to leave the room.

"Hey." Sakura wasn't surprised to hear it was me. Of course, her phone had told her it was me the second it started ringing.

"So, I... Hang on a minute." I put my hand against the speaker so Sakura wouldn't hear me talking to Mei Ling. "Could you leave now?" I asked in an ordering tone.

She forced a laugh. "You wish. If I leave, you're just going to sit there and say incomplete sentences like a fool. I'll stay here until you ask her out properly." She said, sitting on a chair beside the bed to prove her determination.

I though for a moment if I didn't prefer having her in love with me instead of pushing me to other girls like that, but shoved away that thought in a second. Having her hugging me every single second was just unbearable.

"Fine!" I said, not wanting to keep Sakura waiting any longer. I went back to the phone conversation. "Hey! Sorry about that..."

"It's ok." Sakura answered politely. If I wasn't as shy as her with that I'd be sure she wasn't interested in the conversation seeing how few words she was using.

And then there was silence. Why was it so hard to talk after we both knew we were already in love with? I guess these kinds of things need time to change.

"So... I was wondering..." I tried, but nothing came out. Whoever said that gestures spoke louder than words never had a phone conversation.

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

Mei Ling was staring at me impatiently. She had folded her arms and was tapping her feet on the floor loudly to make sure I knew that.

I stared back at her with a 'You're not helping!' look. "Sakura..." I decided it would be better to just blurt it out. Taking a deep breath, I started saying it. "I was wondering if you wanted to..." I stopped. Simply stopped.

Mei Ling slapped her forehead and was apparently holding herself not to slap mine.

"What is it?" Sakura asked again. That was getting ridiculous already.

I didn't know what to do anymore when Mei Ling sighed as if giving up on me. She suddenly started mouthing something looking straight in my eyes.

At first I thought she was trying to say something, but as soon as I understood what she was doing I started repeating every single word she mouthed on the phone.

"We never really got to talk yesterday, so I thought we could go out today." I said. "I mean... after all that's happened, I think we should, right?" That last bit was on me.

Sakura was surprised with my sudden forwardness. "S-sure!" She said, sounding shy. Shy, but excited. "We should."

I couldn't help but smile to myself. The hard part had gone through. Mei Ling made the victory sign with her fingers and winked at me. "You can thank me when you're done with that." She said. Indeed, I sort of regretted having tried to kick her out before. "Just a bit more and you're ready for your date." She said before mouthing me more stuff to say.

I thought it would be best to keep saying her lines. It had been so much easier that way. I had even managed to talk straightly.

"Can I come by your house at five?" I asked, mimicking Mei Ling's every word. "Then we'll figure out what to do."

"That sounds great!" Sakura said, letting excitement gain space over shyness.

"Okay. I'll see you then." My body was already returning to its normal pace. It was all pretty much done. All I had to do now was say goodbye.

"See you then." She answered me.

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Love you."

She gasped. I gasped. Mei Ling gasped and looked at me with a surprised, satisfied and somewhat proud smile.

Might I take a pause to explain where I suddenly got the courage, boldness rather, to say that? Well, I had actually been thinking about it even before Mei Ling entered the room. Not seriously. It was more like 'It would be nice if we were already at this level.' At that particular moment in our conversation I recalled that particular thought and my mouth simply moved accordingly to what I was thinking. More like an unwanted reflex.

I didn't really regret saying it. I just had no idea why or how I had done it. It was one thing saying I love you after a year full of adventures or after a near to death battle against The Void, but it was a completely different thing saying it casually after a phone conversation like that. It wasn't necessarily harder or more meaningful, but it was sure different.

"L-love you too."

I definitely didn't regret saying it. Just hearing her say that was worth anything. I pictured her blushing face and her shy smile in my head and... Well, I wouldn't want to get too carried away here, but you know what I mean.

There was no possible way to extend that conversation anymore, so I hung up. At the same second I did, Mei Ling did something I hadn't seen her do in quite a while. She jumped at me and hugged me like there was no tomorrow.

"Look at you!" She said, squeezing me. "You're turning into a little man already. You can even say things to Kinomoto-san without my help." She said in a teasing tone.

I wasn't teased at all. In fact, I felt extremely happy. It was like the whole time between the moment when Sakura confessed and the moment I hung up the phone had been merely a short hiatus on that wonderful feeling I had right then, and that feeling was truly reality.

"I'll leave alone now like I promised." Mei Ling said, standing up properly again. "But hurry up. You've got one hour to pick her up at her house."

I nodded, unable to get the dreamy smile off my face. "OK."

Mei Ling gave one last, satisfied look at me before turning to the door and walking away.

I was really glad that she was being so supportive about all that. After all, she had once treated Sakura as her rival. Now she seemed honestly happy to see us together. I would never be so bold as to bring up that subject myself, but she deserved at least some recognition. "Mei Ling." I called her before she could close the door behind her.

"What is it?" She asked, one foot out of the room already.

I sported my best smile. "Thanks. Really."

She wore a bright grin. "Hey, don't worry. I know you're nothing without me." She said, laughing at herself afterwards. "But don't mess up with her feelings like you did with me." She said suddenly, making me very uncomfortable.

"I..." I sighed, looking down. "I'm sorry."

She didn't seem bothered. Instead she had a smile that said 'What am I going to do with you?' "It's in the past Syaoran. I'm over it."

"I..."

"Don't worry about it. I know you better than anyone, so I understand why you did all you did." She said. "That's why I'm saying you're going to need me with Kinomoto-san. She's really sensitive and she might get more hurt than I was if you mess up."

I tried to smile again. "I guess... You're pretty mature now, aren't you?"

She giggled. "They say girls mature faster than boys. Plus, when you live through a broken heart you grow quite a bit."

"Yeah..."

"Yeah..."

We kinda stood silently in the room for a moment to let that conversation fix itself in our minds. It was a sensitive subject we had never really gotten to talk about, so it felt like a weight off my shoulders.

"But right now you shouldn't worry about me!" Mei Ling said, sharply breaking the mood. "I've been fine about all this for quite a while. You still have a relationship with Kinomoto-san to be concretized."

Of course I had. It was the only thing going through my mind.

"I won't let you get back in here without having at least given her a kiss!"

My mind went haywire again. That was of course something I was constantly thinking about too, but it felt as if Mei Ling was invading my fantasies.

She laughed at my reaction. "Now get ready for your date."

She closed the door, leaving me to fantasize about the date by myself. And so I did, for as long as I could.

--------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N:** _There you go, comments are welcome. If you enjoyed is keep reading all the way through the end and see if you like it._


	2. The Date

Haldo!

**Disclaimer: "I own Card Captor Sakura. True or False?" "True, Mr. Dragoon!" "Sorry, Billy. The correct answer was False, but you'll still get an AK-47 for your effort." "But my mom said..." "Shut up and go shoot some communists!"**

**A/N:** _This fanfic is based on the canon of the anime and is set immediately after the second movie. It may contain spoilers from the movie so be aware._

_After deciding on taking a break from my other fic, 'What if', I suddenly found out that the pressure off my back inspired me to write on this fic in which I had been stuck with lack of creativity for ages. Hopefully I'll be able to work on non deadlined fanfics like this one very well for the next few months. But it might not happen since I'm already spending my little time available to plan the second season of 'What if'._

_Just in case you've forgotten..._

"Character talking"

_Character Thinking_

(Me talking)

_And the story..._

**Card Captor Sakura:** _Our First Date _

**Part 2:**_ The Date_

**A/N:** _This is your humble writer, Li Syaoran. As advised by my cousin, I'll try to make my narrative more dialogue like. I guess I was sort of telling the story to myself up until now and I can understand if you think it became dull. So from now on I'll try to write as if I'm actually talking to you. I think I might even feel more comfortable that way. Oh, and don't expect to read about a date full of crazy things and absurd plot twists. This is a real story and, despite being between two practitioners of magic, it was a very regular date. I think that some of you might not appreciate the story for it being so dull and ordinary, but I'm sure that there also those among the readers who know the wonderful things hidden in the everyday, common life. Here I try to expose these things to you. So here you go, the second part of the story of my first date with Sakura:_

"I'm ready!" Sakura's voice came from upstairs.

"You better not try anything funny with her." Touya said to me after what had seemed like an eternity. His stare had been telling me those words for a while now, so the he didn't really add anything new to us by saying them.

If you're lost in my story, I jumped a few hours ahead and skipped the whole getting ready part, but if you're too curious I'll dedicate one paragraph to it. If you're not all that curious you can just skip it. I recommend skipping. It consists mostly of me being embarrassed at all the things Mei Ling kept trying to tell me to do and me choosing what to wear, or rather, Mei Ling doing so for me.

So, for the curious ones: It might have seemed at the end of the first part that Mei Ling had left me alone to get ready. That was a sweet illusion that only lasted for a minute until she came back in the room saying: "What am I thinking? You couldn't get ready for a date by yourself if your life depended on it." Of course, she already knew that I couldn't get ready for a date when she left the room, she had just been trying to leave me alone for a while, but after a minute she couldn't resist the temptation of helping me anymore, or torturing me as far as I'm concerned.

Ok, skip this one too if you skipped the one above. I'm gonna need more words for this. Mei Ling immediately set off to tell me about what were my goals on the date and the order I should try to get them. I can't remember them anymore. I couldn't remember them by the time she had stopped numbering them actually. The point is: she apparently had a whole plan in her head, though she assures me up till the day I write this that it all just came to her.

Skip again. Last time, I swear. In the end, the only things that actually stayed in my head out of her advices, besides a few random things about body language, were the clothes I should wear and the places I should take her. The clothes I can't remember anymore. Us guys don't have this amazing feminine ability of remembering people's clothes in every occasion. The places we went you'll see as you read the story. But you must be tired of all this babbling. I'll skip to the date which is the really interesting part. Sort of.

There you go. No need to skip this one. I had arrived at Sakura's place and her brother had opened the door for me. "She's getting ready." Was the only thing he had said. It had been ten minutes already and I was still standing by the door, staring back at him. Even as Sakura's steps grew louder.

I wondered if he knew that me and Sakura were on our way for our first date as boyfriend and girlfriend. Did he and Sakura talk about stuff like this? It was surely something hard to imagine. Hard and somewhat fun... and scary I guess.

Of course, none of that mattered anymore when Sakura finally showed up. Her mere presence made everything around look paler and obscured. And her face... red from shyness. That was to be expected. With me staring at her face like a cliché love struck boy she had to be embarrassed. But the fact that she was blushing only made me feel goofier. Looking at Sakura was already wonderful, but doing it while knowing we were about to go on a date... that was paradise.

Sorry. I'll try to spare you from such mushy descriptions from now on, but if you've been in love before you can understand why I can sometimes get a bit carried away. Anyway, moving on...

Sakura was already next to Touya and I was still staring at her like a fool. She wasn't doing much either. We were both just being there.

I imagine that it troubled Touya a lot to let Sakura go out with me, but nevertheless, he was the one who gave Sakura a push on the back and closed the door being her. "Have fun." He said, obviously not meaning it.

He was still her older brother that hated me, but I had to admit that he respected Sakura's wishes. I mean, to tell you the truth, he's like that with me even today. He makes it pretty clear that he hates my guts but lets Sakura decide what's best for her. We have some sort of mutual hate and respect going on between us.

So, me and Sakura were left alone. The date had officially started, and though it wasn't exactly the hottest date in Tokyo, I feel blissful just remembering it.

"Huh... So, what do you want to do?" She said, her head looking down but her eyes timidly looking up at me, a classic stance on the fine art of shyness.

I preferred the rub-on-the-back-of-the-head, another classic. I think it's more me. "I thought we could go out for a movie and then eat something. My treat." Mei Ling had told me to say that. I though it was all kind of cheesy. Did she expect me to pretend I was yawning and put my arm around her during the movie?

"Sure. Sounds great." She said, a little less timidly than before.

I wondered, back then, how we would ever be a couple if both of us were so shy about it. I mean, someone had to do something. I'm not saying that I was helping the situation, but at least I saw what the problem was, and trust me, that's a good start.

"Let's go then." I said, smiling at her.

That was a terrible start. We had barely said a word to each other and we were walking side by side like two total strangers. I knew I was supposed to do something.

According to Mei Ling, that date was the confirmation of our commitment to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend and I had to show my commitment to Sakura through gestures. I wasn't sure about all that, but I was so lost that I had no choice but follow Mei Ling's ideas.

"Don't walk beside her without holding hands and talking to her. So long as you two are in contact you will both feel safe and everything will go smoother. But don't rely much on the talking, cause you're no good with words." Her words kept coming to me like a little instruction booklet. "Just hold her hand firmly and you'll be fine."

_Talk and hold hands._ I kept telling myself. I tried to say something but couldn't really come up with anything.

"Do not let the date fall in uncomfortable silence, even if you have to make up stuff to talk about. Uncomfortable silence is your biggest enemy Syaoran." She'd also said. "If you're gonna keep it silent, there are other ways to maintain a conversation besides using words. Looks and touch are the key."

Up till now everything was going the exact opposite of what she'd said. No holding hands, no talking, no exchanging glances and a very uncomfortable silence.

We were already walking for about five minutes when I told myself to do something. Talking wasn't working so... _Her hand._

I didn't have a mirror, but I'm pretty sure my face turned red when I looked down at her hand and thought of taking it in mine. I looked up to see her face but upon noticing she was looking at me too I instinctively looked away.

Sakura seemed to be pretty much in the same situation as me. She didn't know what to say, what to do, or even where to look. It was a surprise that we could still straighten up our minds enough to keep walking.

And her hand kept dangling at her side, inviting and taunting me naively. Her left hand if you want to get a clearer picture of the scene. I tried to figure out a way to reach for it. It was no simple task.

In the end, my shyness reigned supreme and the only idea I could come up with was discreetly holding out my hand for her to grab it. This way I didn't have to be too bold and upon noticing my hand extended she wouldn't need much boldness either.

I extended my hand to her side discreetly. Very discreetly. Too discreetly.

"Is something wrong with your arm?" She naively asked, sending my heart to full speed.

"I... No! It's nothing. Just stretching a bit." I said loudly and quickly, like I always do when I'm nervous. I didn't look like I was stretching but, then again, I didn't look like I was doing anything but raising my arm for no reason at all so I guess any excuse would have been just as bad.

"Oh..." Was all she said before we feel back in the torturing silence.

_Just reach for it!_ I told myself, once again staring at Sakura's waving hand through the corner of my eye. _I'll just count to three, close my eyes and do it._

And so I did. _One, Two, Three!_

It's funny how I didn't consider at the time that with my eyes closed there was a high chance my hand ended up on her butt. Being naïve can be problematic. Oh, I didn't touch her butt, don't go getting any ideas. I just think it's funny that I didn't even think of it back then. It would have been tremendously awkward anyway.

What happened is that when I closed my eyes I didn't do it like I should have done. Instead of confidently reaching for her hand, I slowly raised my hand waiting for it to touch Sakura's.

Never walk with your eyes closed.

I did feel Sakura's hand in mine, but she had voluntarily grabbed mine like I had intended on my first try. _Maybe this time she realized what I was trying to do. _I thought.

Not a second after she grabbed my hand, she was pulling me backwards with a lot of strength, making me loose my balance and fall flat on my butt. "Ouch!" I automatically shouted as I opened my eyes.

Sakura's hand was still holding mine, but this time to help me up. "Are you ok? What happened?" She asked me, looking concerned.

I was very confused. I should have been the one asking that. "I don't know... Why did you pull me?" I asked as she pulled me back up.

"But, you were about to walk into moving traffic." She said pointing to the place we were walking to. Indeed, anyone stupid enough to walk into that street with their eyes closed would have met a most unfortunate fate on the windshield of a car.

I cursed myself for yet another failed attempt.

Soon I realized of course that despite the fact that it had almost ended in disaster, I was in fact holding Sakura's hand in the end.

"Let's get... Hoe?" Sakura froze for a second and then blushed bright red when she tried to pull her hand back and I didn't let go. My reaction to it was pretty similar. She slowly raised her look from our hands to my eye. "S-Syaoran-kun." She wasn't smiling. In fact she looked a bit scared. I couldn't blame her, we were just two little kids so we were scared of everything. Come to think of it, we started dating sort of prematurely.

_Smile! Smile! Smile!_ My brain told my mouth. My mouth refused. _Then say something!_ This time it sort of worked. "I... Let's get going then?" I said, preferring to let the important things about that gesture go without words. As a matter of fact I was just too scared to say anything else.

The semaphore was red now. I started walking ahead towards the street again, but once more Sakura held me back, this time in a gentler fashion. I wondered if I hadn't done the wrong thing by forcing her to hold hands and walking away before even saying anything properly. Maybe I had hurt her feelings. All those things a man in love worries about all the time.

When I hesitatingly looked back to her I realized why she hadn't let me walk away. "Huh... I..." She was blushing bright red still. The problem was that the hand I'd held was her right hand, and I'd held it with my right hand too. Use your imagination a bit and you'll see why that wouldn't work.

"S-sorry..." I said, feeling absolutely stupid. That's what I got from not having a bit of spine. If only I'd grabbed her hand properly. Of course, now all I could do was pretend nothing had happened and hope that the whole date wouldn't be such a disaster. That's when I learned my first lesson about what it means to be in a relationship.

"It's ok." Sakura said, pulling her hand back to her but immediately replacing it with her left hand.

When she smiled timidly at me, that's when I realized I'd learned something. This lesson I mentioned, is not something I could possibly explain to you. It's a very subjective lesson. Can you explain to a deaf person the difference between the sound of a piano and the sound of a guitar? It's something that has no other words for it. A piano sounds like a piano and someone who hears it knows what it's like. You can try describing it but you'll never be as precise as when you say that it sounds like a piano. It's the kind of thing that is vague and precise at the same time.

Holding hands with your girlfriend feels like holding hands with your girlfriend and only someone who's experienced this feeling can understand the lesson I learned. I'm sure you understand what I mean now, even if you don't quite do. So, moving on again.

Despite the fact that I'd learned this lesson, I was still as embarrassed as I could be. Luckily that didn't last much.

I don't know which one of us started it, but soon we were tightening our grasps on each other's hands and a sort of conversation started between us, but instead of words, we used our palms and our fingers.

It was then that I understood what Mei Ling meant when she said that so long as we were in contact everything would go smoother. It was much easier to do all that now that we were sharing heat and touch. It was like a new connection beside our hands formed between us.

"So, let's go?" I asked, suddenly feeling much more confident.

Sakura nodded in that cheerful way that only she can do. That was a good sign, cause she'd only act cute and cheerful like that when she was comfortable, and she hadn't acted like that all day up till that moment. "Sure. Let's go."

We were so distracted with feeling our hands and exchanging touches and squeezes that we practically forgot to be shy. It was all so new to us.

I guess you got the idea about that part. I'll skip to the bit when we are in the movie cause nothing really exceptional happened until then. Suffice to say that in this bit I'll skip, Sakura and I got more used to the feeling of the other's hand and that made the tension drop. On the other hand, as we got used to it, that romantic trance we were in faded away, so despite the fact that we were more comfortable with the holding of the hands, we were remembering to be shy.

_Holding hands, check. Next step is talking, but I don't think that's a good idea in the movies, and it's not uncomfortable silence if there's a movie on. Great, I get more time to get ready._ I thought. I would like to point out that it was very stupid of me to think that. When it comes to these sorts of things, the longer you take to do something, the higher are the chances of you screwing up. I should have learned that lesson when I was trying to hold hands with her, but I guess I was pretty helpless back then.

Anyway, the movie had started and we hadn't really said anything but greetings and stuff like: "Do you want popcorn too?" or "Don't worry, I'll get that." I didn't even have the guts to offer to pay her movie ticket. But that was partly because I thought it would be sort of corny.

And so the movie started.

And it went on... And on... And on.

It wasn't a particularly good movie. One of those comedies imported from the U.S.A. where a guy's life suddenly gives a huge twist and he has to do some absurd task to get his life back to normal, but in the end he realizes that he didn't want to go back to what he was and becomes a new man. Of course, in the middle of the story he meets some girl and falls in love with her and usually has a marriage with her in the final scene where all of the bizarre characters from the movie make reappearances with funny jokes and catchphrases.

Anyway, the movie didn't really get my attention, especially because I was still holding hands with Sakura.

Soon all the pop corn was gone and I started getting nervous again. Was the date getting boring? It felt like we were doing the wrong thing. Like there was something a date should have that wasn't happening with us.

I shouldn't talk cause it would be impolite to do it during the movie. I definitely wouldn't pull the 'yawn and put your arm around her' stunt. All I could do was wait.

I even tried caressing her hand every now and then to assure her and myself that at least the hands felt comfortable, but it got less meaningful each time I did it. Soon it would stop being cute and start to become annoying.

"No, Ted! That's was my sister's turtle!"

"Mr. Cuddles!"

BONK

"Mom!"

That scene is the only thing I can remember from the movie nowadays. It was some joke about a mentally challenged guy who was learning to play Frisbee.

The reason I remember that particular scene was because it was just then that my date gave a twist in direction.

I felt a head leaning against my shoulder. Sakura's head of course. Her hair was brushing my face. I could smell it so clearly. My heart raced like it was going for the gold.

I didn't even have time to respond to her sudden action. She was already speaking. "Syaoran-kun... Is something wrong?" She whispered.

"I-I-I'm fine..." I sort of said, starting to sweat. "W-why the question?"

"No... I mean with us." She said, suddenly bringing my nervousness to a whole new level.

"What?" I stopped stuttering when she said that. Can't really explain why, but I hope you can understand it as fellow human beings.

"What we're doing... It's not being like I imagined. It's so awkward." She explained. I couldn't help but agreeing with her, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to openly state it like that.

"Well... It's just our first time doing this sort of thing." I tried to reason.

"I know..." She paused for a second. After taking a deep breath, she held my hand tighter in a reassuring way. "I have no doubts that you're the one I love most." She started. A very pleasant start in contrast with that tense mood, if I may say. "But this doesn't feel right." And a painful conclusion to contrast with the great start.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what she was saying. I didn't even know if she knew what she was saying. "But... Sakura... I don't understand..."

I was just a hopeless twelve year old trying to deal with his first girlfriend, so bear with me.

She shook her head slowly, I'm not quite sure why. "I'm sorry. What I meant is that this date thing is not like us. It's so formal and full of concerns..." She sighed. "I liked it better when we were just doing things because we wanted to."

I still couldn't understand what she was saying and it sounded more and more as if she didn't like having a date with me. It was starting to get weird demanding explanations repeatedly, but I didn't know what else to do. "What do you mean?"

She blushed. "This is coming out all wrong." She said. "Of course I want to go on a date with you... But not like this." It was as if she was reading my mind. "If feels like we're following a schedule... Like we're not being ourselves. I think what I'm trying to say is..."

Finally I sort of understood what she was trying to say. I got so excited at the relief, if that's even possible, that I cut in on her. "We should be more spontaneous."

She thought for a second. "Yeah... That's the word."

And then we stayed quiet for almost a minute. I thought that was a weird moment. After all, she'd just said she wanted to be spontaneous, but she was still there with her head on my shoulder watching the movie. Of course, I'd forgotten how a girl's head can multitask.

"You know... This feels really good." She said all of a sudden. I wasn't sure where that had come from. It caught me by surprise.

"W-what?" I asked, still acting like a hopeless fool.

"You." And once again my heart went crazy.

I looked down at her. She was looking at the screen. I was blushing like hell and was absolutely sure I wouldn't be able to say anything to answer that.

And so, after a few more minutes, I started relaxing a bit. It wasn't as bad or scary as I thought it would be to cuddle like that. It felt really good once you stopped worrying actually. That's when I learned my second and third subjective lesson.

Second: Cuddling is really good and serves as a very efficient way of not talking. Third: Not talking is not the same as uncomfortable silence. There is such a thing as comfortable silence and it can be even better than not silence.

Anyway, there I was, starting to enjoy the situation. Much like it had been with holding hands. After a while I started to think about what Sakura had said. It would inevitably return when the movie ended. The uncomfortable silence I mean.

There was something that stopped us from enjoying that date. Something that I couldn't quite get a grasp on. I mean, we were having some nice moments and we both wanted to continue the date, but it was as if we had to struggle to make it fun. It was supposed to be fun just because we were together.

"Syaoran-kun." Sakura called out to me.

"What?" I looked down at her, and then realized she was already standing up. In fact, everybody around was standing up and the lights were already on. The movie was over already and the credits were rolling. "Oh..." I looked like some stupid joke from the movie we'd just watched: Guy gets lost in thoughts and looses track of reality. Another classic. "Shall we then?" I said, getting up quickly.

This is the real turning point now. I mentioned a while ago, during the movie scene with the turtle, that the crucial point in changing the date had happened, but it was more like the trigger to a series of thoughts that occurred in my head culminating in this moment when we left the movies.

What happened? You'll ask. Well, I simply got tired of myself. I had spent so much time that day stuttering and being anxious that it simply lost its meaning. I guess I could go on and on explaining this, but basically, it became clear to me that there was nothing to be afraid of on that date. My shyness fuse just short circuited in a flash.

"I'm not really in the mood for a restaurant." I said, leaving Mei Ling's schedule aside. "What do you want to eat?"

Now, you have to realize that this last line of mine holds a very important meaning in the date. Not only was I attending to Sakura's request of being spontaneous, but I had suddenly become completely secure of what I was saying. That, my friend, is the key. There's a world of difference between saying something with or without confidence.

You might not believe me when I say I just lost my shyness all of a sudden. I don't blame you. Most people don't know this feeling. However, if you ask yourself why in the world I was acting shy in the first place, you'll see that it doesn't make much sense either. That's love for you.

Sakura obviously didn't have this sudden breakthrough of mine, but like I said, the fact that I said my line with confidence already made her change her attitude.

And here comes the fourth and maybe most valuable lesson: What you give is what you take.

Upon being inquired on where we should eat, she put her index finger over her lips and rolled her eyes upwards in thought. Cute, and much more Sakura-like than what I'd been seeing up till now.

"I'm not really hungry." She said. I wasn't hungry either so that was a good thing. "Why don't we take a walk?"

"Just walk?" I asked her.

She blushed. "Maybe we can go to the park and just sit down somewhere." She said, clearly doing her best not to look stupid in front of my sudden spurt of confidence. "I... I really enjoyed just seating together."

I know what you're thinking. Here he goes again saying that his brain went haywire and all that yapping. Well, you're partially right, my heart did start beating a bit faster, but I was still calm and enjoyed her remark a lot. That had been the proof that I had completely gained control of myself.

"Sure." I said sporting a grin that was graciously returned by her. "Come on."

Sakura lost her composure a bit when I put my arm around her. She was a bit too stiff. However, she didn't take too long to relax and enjoy the proximity of walking so close. I smile to myself every time I remember her face going from that grin to a "Hoe?" when I hugged her and almost immediately after a smile that was reserved only for special moments like this one. The kind you see on a persons face when they're having a good dream. What you give is what you take.

I'll be force to skip another short segment of the date or else this will end up rendering another chapter. What followed is that we went to the park and sat down on a bench. We kept hugging each other, exploring that wonderful new feeling. I guess we were doing the twelve year old equivalent of making out.

I hope you understand what I mean now. How these things just happen, like a sparkle that lights up the mood.

Anyway, the next relevant thing that happened was the kiss. I won't try to make it a surprise cause this isn't a romance movie or anything. Truth be told, the most interesting part to write about will be the development that lead to it. The kiss itself, it would be pointless to waste too many words trying to describe it. A kiss is a kiss and that's that.

As I was saying, we were already on the bench for a while. The curious thing is that all of a sudden we were able to talk. The subjects just started to pop up. I'll try to account that change to the fact that the only reason we were able to talk naturally was because the subjects were suddenly not just excuses to break the silence anymore, wouldn't you agree?

"Did you notice?" Sakura asked me all of a sudden.

I was confused. I thought she'd seen something funny so I started looking around. "Noticed what?"

Sakura cuddled up in me a bit more, if it was possible. "We're having a great date."

I laughed. "We are, aren't we?"

"What were we afraid of anyway?"

I knew the exact answer to that question. "The same thing people are always afraid of." I said. "The unknown." I'm not a very narcissist or conceited person, but that one time I thought I sounded really cool. We're allowed to think that every now and then right?

"Yeah, that's it." She said. "How silly, isn't it? We were missing out on this because of that."

I shook my head. "Not at all. It only makes this moment more special."

I'm sorry. I'll have to say here that this story is virtually over. Like I said before, this isn't a story meant for entertainment. It's the narration of things that happened, and therefore it won't follow a narrative structure with introduction, development and climax. If you're expecting something amazing to happen anytime now, I recommend getting your hopes down. The story was over the moment my shy-fuse broke down. From there on it's just a monologue about events that ensued. An epilogue maybe.

Back to the story. "How's that?" Sakura asked.

I was a bit hesitant to say what I said next. "For instance, at the beginning of the date, I was afraid to do anything. I couldn't even look at you without loosing my composure."

Sakura nodded. "Well, I wasn't doing much better."

I chuckled. "True. But then, as I slowly started to be bold I got to hold your hand and get to where we are now. And though it happened very fast, I feel like its ancient history not being able to hold your hand."

"Yeah, I feel like that too." She cuddled up again. That felt indescribably good. "I guess that's because we had to actually fight ourselves to do these things..."

"That's why they feel so valuable." I completed. And here's why I was hesitant to say all that. "To prove my point, I'll show you that it only seems silly because it's in the past."

Sakura backed away a bit so she could look up at me. "Hoe?"

"I still don't have the courage to kiss you." I said, and I could only say it because I had been mentally rehearsing it for quite a while. Even so, it didn't come out as cool as the other stuff I'd said. I sort of regained my shyness for a moment.

Sakura wasn't any different. She blushed bright red. "S-Syaoran-kun."

I could have kissed her right then, but I wasn't lying when I said I didn't have the courage to do so.

I admired Sakura's features that reflected her inner thoughts which were probably going through more than a man could ever comprehend, especially a twelve year old one.

"I..." She seemed to have reached some conclusion. "Do you w-want to kiss?" She did her number one cute pose again. The one in which her face looked down and her eyes looked up. If I didn't know her any better I'd think she was teasing me.

_Gosh, what was I thinking?_ I asked myself, realizing that I had just ruined my whole 'realization that there's nothing to be afraid of' thing.

And here's the only story worthy thing left for me to tell. The only actual conflict left. This time, I didn't have circumstances in my favor, I had to actually hold my nerves and grow up in order to do what was right.

Lesson number five: Loving is learning. Learning is growing.

Well, anyone with half a brain and half a heart can tell that there was absolutely nothing to stop our kiss anymore, so I don't think there's any point in developing this any further, so long as you understand that the kiss meant growing up and sealing our relationship. It was from that moment on that we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

There. That's the unexciting end. I warned you so don't complain. What happened next is not relevant to this story anymore cause the focus of it was how my relationship with Sakura came to be. In case you're curious, I'm twenty three years old as I write this and Sakura is pregnant of our first baby. We're no longer the same little boy and girl of this story, but our love remains just as strong.

And here's the cunning part. I purposely omitted a piece of information regarding Mei Ling's advices to me, cause I knew it wouldn't mean much at that point, not only that, but it would ruin the already little thrill that there is in this story.

What she said was: "But most important of all, if you feel, at any point in the date, like doing something that I haven't suggested, do it. I know it sounds lame to say 'be yourself', but believe me, that's all there is to a relationship. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, you'll be able to enjoy it the most and leave with no regrets if you believe in your own thoughts and feelings without hesitation." That, reader, is an advice everyone should take for life. Maybe if you remember some parts of my date you'll see how much this particular advice affected me.

I hope you were able to enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. It's not really a much exciting story, I know, but it has very intense feelings of love in it and I've become, over the years, another fool who believes that love is all we need.

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**A/N:**_ It's me, Magma Dragoon again. Sorry for butting in into Syaoran's story (Cause it really feels as if he's taken control of this fic.). I just wanted to say that I was amazed by this chapter myself. It's very different from the stuff I've written so far. I mean... Not too different, but still different in many ways. I like to think of it as an experimental fic. I'm really curious to see your reception to it. Really, this time I'm not begging for reviews, I'm just honestly hoping to get enough reviews so I can get a general idea of how the people reacted to this one._

_Before I leave you, I'll have to pay my humble homage to the best Brazillian writer to grace my knowledge. (And one of the best writers in the world's history. Or so people say.) You might have heard of him: Machado de Assis. The reason I'm thanking this defunct writer, who's unfortunately not a writing defunct (God, I hope somebody understood this reference to one his books. It'd make my day.), is because his writing style greatly inspired me to portrait Syaoran's writing here. I won't be so bold as to compare me to him, but if you read Dom Casmurro, often considered his masterpiece you might uncerstand what I mean. At least I hope that's the case. I didn't really try to mimck his style, cause that would be insane. Instead, I drew many peculiarities that he uses to narrate and tried to transpose that to my style._

_Well, that's it. I thought it wouldn't be fair to this genius if I didn't mention the influence he's had on this chapter. Also, if one person finds out the wonderful world that is his work because of me, I'll also be very happy. _

_Bye then. See you next time._


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